Change-speed gearing.



W. A. so EELLE.

CHANGE SPEED GEARING.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 9, 1913.

L1 13,704. Patented Oct. 13, 1914.

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A TTOHNE y' W. A. S0 BELLE.

CHANGE SPEED GEARING. APPLIOATION FILED JULY 9, 191s.

.l 1 1 3 ,704. Patented Oct. 13, 1914.

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. 56611 Q 5l j d h I iqll f By E JI 55 Williamjaell y UNITED STATES WILLIAM A. S0 BELLE,

0F CLARENDON', TEXAS.

CHANGE-Spann enAmNe.

misma.

Specification oflLetters Patent. Application filed July 9, 19.13. Serial No, 718,202.

Patented oet. 13, 1914.

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. So BELLE,

yresiding at Clarendon, in the county of Don-l ley and StateX of Texas, have invented certain new 4and useful Improvements in (Change-Speed Gearing, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the art of power transmission for automobiles and the like, in which the driving element is coupled with the driven element by a transmisslon gearing of the selective type, the mechanism being-so arranged that the driven element may be made to turn at the same rate of speed as the driving element or at lesser rate of speed in the same direction as the driving element, or the driven element may be made to turn in an opposite direction to thel driving element.

ln its generic nature, the invention rovides a driving shaft and a driven s aft arranged in alinement, and a countershaft` which parallels the driving and driven shafts and carries a set of gears that continuously mesh with gears on the driven and driving shafts, the gears on the driven'shaft running loose and one of the gears on the counter shaft being adapted to run loose thereon during the time the driving and driven shafts are directly connected for high speed purposes.

rllhe invention also member that is adapted to engage parts of the sleeves that carry the respective driven shaft gears, there being positively designed neutral places between each gear changing position, and there being provided means for disconnecting the reverse, the low and the intermediate gears and the counter shaft when the direct drive is in action so that waste of power through friction and the operation of unnecessary parts, is avoided. The gearing is inclosed in a housing which acts as a lubricant reservoir so that the gears may run in grease or oil.

More subordinately the invention includes those novel details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, all of which will be rst fully described, and then be specically pointed out in the appended claim, reference being ,hadV to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure lis a top plan View (the housing cover being removed and parts being shown in section) of the apparatus, with' the shifting*` sleeve clutch member in the third neu- 4 includes a sliding g tral position. Fig. 2 is a' detail longitudinal section land part elevation of thel driving and driven shaft, showing the shiftable clutch sleeve member in engagement with `the clutch lugs of the intermediate gear sleeves. Fig. 3 is a view similarI to Fig. 2, showing the shiftable clutch sleeve member wlth its lugs in engagement with the lugs of the reverse gear member. Fig. 4 is a cross section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. -5 is a perspective view ofthe apparatus, the cover. of the housing being removed. Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of the clutch sleeve. Fig. l7 is a detail perspective view, parts'being broken away, of a portion of the driving and driven shafts. Fig. 8 is a detail view showing how the counter shaft drivingfgear is disconnected when the driving and .driven shafts are directly conneeted together for high speed purposes. Fig. 9- is a detail section and part elevation of a modification of the invention. Fig. 10 is a cross section on the line 10`10 of Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is a cross section on the line 11.-11 of Fig.- 9. Fig. 12 is a detail perspective view of the reverse gear sleeve showing the clutch lugs or fingers. Fig. 13 is a similar view, a part -being broken away, showing the low-speed gear sleeve lugs. Fig. 14 is a detail perspective view of the shifting"- lrey member that v corresponds in function tothe shiftable clutch sleeve of Fig. 6.

In the drawings in which like numerals and lettersof reference designate like parts in all the figures, 1 is the housing, in bearings-2 and 3 of whichI ther driving shaft 4 land driven shaft 5 are mounted. The driven shaft 5 has a round or cylindrical portion 6 and a squared portion 7 and terminates in a reduced cylindrical portion 8- that enters the bearing' socket 9 of the driving shaft 4.

10 -isthe driving gear that is keyed or otherwise secured to the shaft 4 to continuously turn with it, and the gear 10 has a clutch vface 11 to coperate with the clutch face 12 of the clutch end 14, of the shiftable clutch sleeve 13. The clutch end 14 has a squared bore 19 to fit the squared portion 7 of the driven shaft 5, and it is shiftable along such squared portion by a rod 16 whose yoke ngers-l enter the groove of the clutching end 14, and vthe rod 16 passes through the housing bearing 17 and may be actuated by the operator in any desired way. The shiftable clutch sleevemember 13 has lugs 18 at the end opposite the clutch end 1.4, the lugs 18 having their front and rear edges well rounded to coperate with correspondingly formed lugs '23, 27 and 29, hereinafter again referred to. A

.20 is the intermediate speed gear sleeve which runs loosely. on the cylindrlcal portion 6 of the shaft 5, and has-an enlargement 22 at one end that carries the lugs 23. At its other end, the sleeve 20 carriesthe intermediate driven shaft gear 21. On the sleeve 20is a-/second 'sleeve 25 which also has an enlargement 26 that carries the lugs 27, the lugs 27 being spaced from thelugs 23 a distance greater 'than the length of the lugs 18 to form` a neutral space 62. On the sleeve is a third gear 30 which has a clutch face 29 and meshes with the reversing pinion 47 v on the stub shaft 48. The lugs 27 are spaced fromthe lugs 2 9 a distance greater than the length of the lug 18 to afford a neutral space 63- for -a purpose later more fully understood.

as. is t otherwise Vsecured at 24 to the sleeve 25.

The gears 21 and 28 respectively mesh Y with gears 32'and 33 on a counter shaft 31 Vwhich is mounted in bearings 46 in the frame 1, while the pinion 47 meshes with a gear 34-that is also. mounted onthe counter shaft 31.- The driving shaft gear 10 meshes with a gear 35 that 1s loosely mounted on s thecounter shaft'31, and has aclutch face 36 thatcoperates with the clutch face 37 of'the shifting member 38, Whichvh is keyed at 39 to the shaft 31. l A spring y41 engages a collar 40 on the shaft 31A and continuously tends to press the clutch member 38 into en` gagement with the clutch face of the gear 35. vPivoted at 43, on a bracket 42, is a shifting lever 44, one end of which is adapted lto be engaged by the clutch end 14 of the shiftable slutch sleeve 13 v(see Fig. 1), and they otherl end of which carries :idler rollers 45 that enter the groove ofthe shiftable -clutch member 38, whereby when the member l13 is moved to bring the clutch faces 11' andv 12 into mesh, the clutch faces 36 and 37 will be disengaged to permit the gear 35 to run idle on the shaft 31.

'In the modified form shown in Fig. 9, the arrangement is somewhat reversed. The reverse gear 30 is mounted `on a sleeve 59, which 1n this case is the inner sleeve instead ofthe outer one, the driving shaft 5 is provided with a key slot 50, the low speed gear 28 is mounted on the intermediate sleeve 57, and the intermediate gear 21 is mounted on the outer sleeve 55. The sleeve 55 has internal lugs 56, while the sleeve 57 has internal lugs 58, and the sleeve 59 has lugs 6.0 to b e engaged by the key51 successively, the lugs 56, 58: and 60 being spaced apart a distance greater than the length of the key 51, whereby to provide neutral spaces 62 and 63, there being a third neutral space 61 when the key e low speed gear which is keyed or 51 is out of the sleeve 55 entirel The key 51 is connected by an arm 52 to t e shiftable clutch member 53 whose clutch face 54 is adapted to coperate with the clutch face 11 of the driving gear 10. In this form, the slot 50 takes place of the s uared portion 7 of the shaft 5 in Figs. 1 and 2.

Operation: In the normal position of the parts, the sleeve 13 is located as shown in.

dotted lines in Fig. 1, with its lugs 18 located inthe first neutral space 63. When in this position, the gearsf21, 28 and 30 run .idle'on the shaft 5 'and the sleeves of one anothei while the shaft 31 is driven from the driving shaft 4 through the medium of the gears 10 and 35, it being understood that the clutch 38 is in engagement with the gear 35. Now, if it is desired togo into low speed, the operator pulls on the rod 16 in any desired way to bring thelugs 18 of the shiftable clutch sleeve 13 into the path of movement of the lugs 27 oflthe low speed gear sleeve, itbeing understoody that the lugs 18 pass betweenadjacent ones ofthe lugs 27 thuscoupling thelow speed gear Asleeve 26 tothe shiftable clutch -member 13 and through it to they shaft@ 5, causingthe low speed gear 28 and shaft-5 to. turn 'toe getheras one under the influence of the power transmitted from the1drivin shaft-4 via the gears 10 and 35, counter sha 31 and gear 33: Whenit is desired to go into i intermediate speed, the sleeve 13'is pulled farther toward` the right in Fig. 1 until its lugs 18 pass into the neutralspace 62 and from it into a positionl between the lugs 23 as shown in Fig. 2, whereuponl the intermediate gear 21 will be coupled to turn with the shafti and be driven throu hthe-medium of the gears 32, counter sha t31, gears 35 and 10 from the drivin shaft 4. The next movement of the shifta le clutch sleeve 13 from the position shown in section in Fig. 2 to the position shown in elevation in Fig. 1 @brings the parts into the third neutral position, and a further movement of the sleeve 13 from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 8 will bring the clutch members 11 and 12 into mesh and disconnect the clutch members 36 and 37. At this time the shafts 4 and 5 are directly coupled together through the medium of the clutch faces 11-and 12. The counter shaft 31 and gears 32, 33, 34, together with the gears 21, 28 30, and pinion 47, remain idle due to the fact that the gear 35A now runs loosel on the shaft 31 and hence the, driving shaft ower is ractically all transmitted vto the driven sha t without waste through the operation ofidle parts.

The operation of the form shown in Fig. 9ct seg. is substantially the same, and a description thereof is thought to be unnecessary.

I am aware that-attempts have heretofore 4las been made to eliminate the disadvanta es of selective gear transmissions in whic the gears themselves are shiftable bodily into and out of mesh, but the great diiiiculty that ings, it is thought the complete construetion, operations and advantages-of the invention will Tie apparent to those skilled in the art. y

What I claim is A In a transmission mechanism, a driving shaft, the end of said driving shaft having a socket, a driven shaft arranged in longitu` 4 dinal almement with said driving shaft and having a-reduced portion to rotatably t into said socket, a counter shaft, a support including bearings for said shafts, a gear having a clutch face and secured to turn with said drivin shaft, said driven shaft having a square portion 'and a ortion of circular cross section, a shifta le sleeve mounted on said driven shaft and including a squared bearing to iit the s uared portion of said driven shaft, said s iftable sleeve having a clutch face toengage the clutchface of said drivin shaft gear when shifted into connection with the same, means for shifting said shiftable slee-ve, a plurality of gears on said counter-shaft to turn with the same, a plurality of sleeves mounted on that portion of the driven shaft which is of circular cross section, said last named sleeves each having projecting ends, radial lugs on said projecting ends, gears carrled by said sleeves to mesh with the counter-shaft gears, the radial lugs of one sleeve being spaced from the radial lugs of an adjacent sleeve a distance greater than the length of the lugs, said shiftable sleeve having lugs to coperate with said aforementioned lugs and adapted to be successively brought into engagement with the aforementioned lugs, a gear loosely mounted on said counter-shaft to 'mesh with said driving shaft gear, a spring ressed'clutch member on said counter-sha t to continuously tend to engage said loose counter-shaft gear, said loose countershaft gear having a clutch face, a lever rockably mounted between said counter-shaft and said driving and driven shafts and continuously engaging said sprngpressed .clutch member, said shiftable sleeve being adapted to engage said lever to move said spring pressed clutch member out of its clutching position when said shiftable sleeve clutch face is engaged with said driving shaft ear clutch face, all being arranged substantlally as shown and for purposes described.

WILLIAM A. SO RELLE. Witnesses: C. E. DUKE,

HOMER GLAsooE. 

